Asphalt Rake Assembly

ABSTRACT

An asphalt rake assembly for enhancing ergonomics of a rake includes a rake head that has sequence of triangular teeth thereon for raking material. A handle is coupled to the rake head and the handle has a plurality of intersecting sides. Thus, the handle has a rectangular cross section taken along a longitudinal axis. In this way each of the intersecting sides can be gripped thereby facilitating the rake head to be tilted at a selected angle while maintaining preferred ergonomic positioning of a user&#39;s hands on the handle.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

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THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT

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INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC OR AS A TEXT FILE VIA THE OFFICE ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM.

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STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR JOINT INVENTOR

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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION (1) Field of the Invention. (2) Description of Related Art including information disclosed under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98.

The disclosure and prior art relates to rake devices and more particularly pertains to a new rake device for enhancing ergonomics of a rake.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a rake head that has sequence of triangular teeth thereon for raking material. The rake head has a sequence of crenellations thereon to produce a series of ridges in the material. A handle is coupled to the rake head and the handle has a plurality of intersecting sides. Thus, the handle has a rectangular cross section taken along a longitudinal axis. In this way each of the intersecting sides can be gripped thereby facilitating the rake head to be tilted at a selected angle while maintaining preferred ergonomic positioning of a user's hands on the handle.

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.

The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an asphalt rake assembly according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a front phantom view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a right side view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a top phantom view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to FIGS. 1 through 5 thereof, a new rake device embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral 10 will be described.

As best illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 5, the asphalt rake assembly 10 generally comprises a rake head 12 that has sequence of triangular teeth 14 thereon to rake material, such asphalt. The rake head 12 has a first end 18, a second end 20, a top edge 22, a bottom edge 24 and a rear surface 26. The rake head 12 is elongated between the first end 18 and second end 20. Additionally, the top edge 22 has each of the triangular teeth 14 positioned thereon and the triangular teeth 14 are spaced apart from each other and are distributed between the first end 18 and second end 20.

A handle 28 is coupled to the rake head 12 and the handle 28 has a plurality of intersecting sides 30 such that the handle 28 has a rectangular cross section taken along a longitudinal axis. In this way each of the intersecting sides 30 can be gripped thereby facilitating the rake head 12 to be tilted at a selected angle while maintaining preferred ergonomic positioning of a user's hands on the handle 28 as opposed to a rounded handle. Thus, the rake head 12 can be tilted at an angle when asphalt is being smoothed along a curbside or the like without fatiguing the user's hands and wrists. Each intersection between the intersecting sides 30 of the handle 28 is rounded, rather than squared, to enhance comfort for the user when gripping the handle 28.

The handle 28 has a primary end 32, a secondary end 34 and an outer surface 36 extending therebetween, and the outer surface 36 includes each of the intersecting sides 30. The secondary end 34 is coupled to the rear surface 26 of the rake head 12 and the secondary end 34 is centrally positioned between the first end 18 and the second end 20 of the rake head 12. A grip 38 is positioned around the handle 28 and the grip 38 extends from the first end 18 of the handle 28 toward the second 20 of the handle 28. Moreover, the grip 38 is comprised of a resiliently compressible material for enhancing gripping the grip 38. In an alternative embodiment 40 as shown in FIG. 5, the rake head 12 has a sequence of crenellations 42 thereon to produce a series of ridges in the material. The bottom edge 24 of the rake head 12 has the crenellations 42 positioned thereon and the crenellations 42 are distributed between the first end 18 and the second end 20.

In use, the rake head 12 is employed for applying asphalt on a roadway. Either of the triangular teeth 14 or the crenellations 16 can be faced downwardly to rake the asphalt. The intersecting sides 30 of the handle 28 facilitate the rake head 12 to be tilted at a selected angle while maintaining preferred ergonomics for the user's hands and wrists. In this way fatigue and joint stress is reduced for the user while the asphalt is being spread and prepared. Thus, the rake head 12 can be tilted downwardly to slope the asphalt adjacent to a curb or the like while enhancing comfort for the user.

With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.

Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements. 

I claim:
 1. An asphalt rake assembly being configured to rack and level asphalt, said assembly comprising: a rake head having sequence of triangular teeth thereon wherein said triangular teeth are configured to rake material; a handle being coupled to said rake head, having a plurality of intersecting sides such that said handle has a rectangular cross section taken along a longitudinal axis wherein each of said intersecting sides is configured to be gripped thereby facilitating said rake head to be tilted at a selected angle while maintaining preferred ergonomic positioning of a user's hands on said handle.
 2. The assembly according to claim 1, wherein: said rake head has a first end, a second end, a top edge, a bottom edge and a rear surface, said rake head being elongated between said first and second ends; said top edge has each of said teeth being positioned thereon, said teeth being spaced apart from each other and being distributed between said first and second ends; and said bottom edge has said crenellations being positioned thereon, said crenellations being distributed between said first and second ends.
 3. An asphalt rake assembly being configured to rack and level asphalt, said assembly comprising: a rake head having sequence of triangular teeth thereon wherein said triangular teeth are configured to rake material, said rake head having a sequence of crenellations thereon wherein said crenellations are configured to produce a series of ridges in the material, said rake head having a first end, a second end, a top edge, a bottom edge and a rear surface, said rake head being elongated between said first and second ends, said top edge has each of said teeth being positioned thereon, said teeth being spaced apart from each other and being distributed between said first and second ends, said bottom edge has said crenellations being positioned thereon, said crenellations being distributed between said first and second ends; and a handle being coupled to said rake head, having a plurality of intersecting sides such that said handle has a rectangular cross section taken along a longitudinal axis wherein each of said intersecting sides is configured to be gripped thereby facilitating said rake head to be tilted at a selected angle while maintaining preferred ergonomic positioning of a user's hands on said handle.
 4. The assembly according to claim 1, wherein said handle has a primary end, a secondary end and an outer surface extending therebetween, said outer surface including each of said intersecting sides, said secondary end being coupled to said rear surface of said rake head, said secondary end being centrally positioned between said first and second ends of said rake head.
 5. The assembly according to claim 4, further comprising a grip being positioned around said handle, said grip extending from said first end of said handle toward said second end of said handle, said grip being comprised of a resiliently compressible material for enhancing gripping said grip.
 6. An asphalt rake assembly being configured to rack and level asphalt, said assembly comprising: a rake head having sequence of triangular teeth thereon wherein said triangular teeth are configured to rake material, said rake head having a first end, a second end, a top edge, a bottom edge and a rear surface, said rake head being elongated between said first and second ends, said top edge having each of said teeth being positioned thereon, said teeth being spaced apart from each other and being distributed between said first and second ends; a handle being coupled to said rake head, having a plurality of intersecting sides such that said handle has a rectangular cross section taken along a longitudinal axis wherein each of said intersecting sides is configured to be gripped thereby facilitating said rake head to be tilted at a selected angle while maintaining preferred ergonomic positioning of a user's hands on said handle, said handle having a primary end, a secondary end and an outer surface extending therebetween, said outer surface including each of said intersecting sides, said secondary end being coupled to said rear surface of said rake head, said secondary end being centrally positioned between said first and second ends of said rake head; and a grip being positioned around said handle, said grip extending from said first end of said handle toward said second end of said handle, said grip being comprised of a resiliently compressible material for enhancing gripping said grip.
 7. The assembly according to claim 6, wherein said bottom edge of said rake head having a plurality of crenellations each extending toward said top edge, said crenellations being distributed between said first and second ends wherein said crenellations are configured to produce a series of ridges in the material. 